SOLICITATION NOTICE
15 -- UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEM AND SUPPORT SERVICES
- Notice Date
- 8/5/2014
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 336411
— Aircraft Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Western Region Acquisition Division, 7600 Sand Point Way, Northeast, Seattle, Washington, 98115-6349
- ZIP Code
- 98115-6349
- Solicitation Number
- AB-133F-14-RQ-0897
- Archive Date
- 12/31/2014
- Point of Contact
- Crystina R Elkins, Phone: (206) 526-6036
- E-Mail Address
-
crystina.r.elkins@noaa.gov
(crystina.r.elkins@noaa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- The Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML), Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC), has a requirement for an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) and support services to conduct aerial surveys for marine mammals in the northeastern Chukchi Sea, offshore of Wainwright and Barrow, Alaska. The anticipated period of performance is January 1, 2015 - October 31, 2015. Gray whales, bowhead whales, and belugas are seasonal residents of the northeastern Chukchi Sea, a region that provides important feeding grounds and migration pathways for all three species. All three species are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the bowhead whale is granted additional protection as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and bowhead whales and belugas are granted additional management consideration as the targets of subsistence hunts by Alaskan Natives. Under the National Environmental Policy Act and the ESA, federal agencies are required to evaluate if and how federal actions associated with oil and gas exploration, development, and production may affect these species. Aerial surveys are a standard methodology for conducting studies of whale distribution required to understand the effects of oil and gas exploration. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in using UAS to survey whales in the Arctic to decrease risk to personnel, increase survey efficiency, and minimize disturbance of marine wildlife. The performance of UAS relative to human observers in manned aircraft is unknown, but must be understood prior to accepting UAS as a substitute to manned aircraft for conducting these investigations. NOAA intends to compare the performance of UAS relative to human observers for studying whales in the Arctic to achieve the following objectives. • Evaluate the ability of UAS methodology to detect whales, identify individuals to species, estimate group size, identify calves, and estimate density in arctic waters relative to conventional aerial surveys. • Identify and describe improvements required in UAS technology and imaging systems to confidently conduct whale surveys in the Arctic. • Provide recommendations for the types of monitoring or mitigation requirements that can likely be met by UAS. The Contractor shall furnish all personnel, management, equipment, supplies, and services necessary for performance of all aspects of the contract. These services shall include the following: • Integrating and testing equipment for collecting digital photographs and potentially video of marine mammals; • Assisting NOAA in obtaining a Certificate of Authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly the UAS in the study area shown in Appendix 2; • Preparing and presenting to NOAA and the FAA technical data to ensure that the UAS can operate safely as required by the FAA Certificate of Authorization (COA) requirements and the NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) policy, including (but not limited to): i) safety risk management plan (that includes mitigating the risk of flying beyond visual line of sight); ii) operations plan; iii) UAS ship integration plan; iv) UAS airworthiness statement (or sufficient data such that NOAA can determine airworthiness); v) emergency procedures; and vi) Flight Readiness Review(s); • Assisting NOAA with logistics of a ship-based operation; • Working with NOAA scientists to fine-tune the aerial survey design and performance metrics; • Reporting the methods used in the aerial survey and the results of the field operation; • Creating a database of imagery collected during the surveys; • Ensuring that the UAS is capable of conducting successful aerial missions in the extreme environmental conditions typically encountered by manned aircraft during aerial surveys for marine mammals in the Arctic; and • Developing and implementing contingency plans to maximize the chances of successfully meeting the project's objectives despite potential technical or mechanical difficulties, including the potential loss of unmanned air vehicle(s). The places of performance are the Contractor's base(s) of operations, where any testing of equipment should occur prior to the field season; the port(s) (anticipated to be Dutch Harbor or Nome, Alaska) where the UAS and associated equipment will be loaded onto and unloaded off of the survey vessel; the survey vessel; and potentially remote villages in Alaska, to be used to transfer crew between the ship and shore. A comprehensive list of actual requirements will be included in the Performance Work Statement (PWS) within the solicitation package document. The proposed contract is unrestricted. The NAICS code for this requirement is 336411 and the small-business size standard is 1,500 employees. Any vendor desiring to be considered for award MUST be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) using this NAICS code or a NAICS code with an equivalent size standard. NO award can be made unless the vendor is registered in SAM. For additional information and to register in SAM, please access the following web site: www.sam.gov. In order to register with the SAM and to be eligible to receive an award from this acquisition office, all offerors must also have a Dun & Bradstreet Number. A Dun & Bradstreet number may be acquired free of charge by contacting Dun & Bradstreet on-line at https://iupdate.dnb.com/iUpdate/viewiUpdateHome.htm or by phone at (866) 969-8491. This procurement also requires offerors to complete the electronic representations and certifications at the SAM website. Any resulting contract will be awarded as a firm-fixed price type contract. Solicitation documents will be made available for download ON OR ABOUT August 18, 2014 at http://www.fbo.gov/. Paper copies of this solicitation will NOT be issued. Interested parties should use the FedBizOpps [Add to Watchlist] and [Add Me to Interested Vendors] features which provide a notification when the Request for Quote (RFQ) becomes available for download as well as all postings of information associated with this solicitation thereafter. Each potential offeror is responsible for checking the FedBizOpps website to gain all current information related to the solicitation. The solicitation and any further announcements regarding the solicitation will be posted only at http://www.fbo.gov/. THE DATE OFFERS ARE DUE WILL BE STATED WITHIN THE SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS and will be adjusted based upon the actual release date of the solicitation. All questions of any nature regarding this procurement should be sent in writing to the Contract Specialist, Crystina Elkins at Crystina.R.Elkins@noaa.gov or via fax at (206)527-3916.
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- Record
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